Japan's Haru Nomura fired a closing seven-under par 65 to deny defending champion and world number one Lydia Ko and win the LPGA-sanctioned Australian Open at The Grange here Sunday. Nomura, 23, holed eight birdies in the final round having started the day in a three-way share of the lead at nine-under. The Japanese player closed the door on Ko's chances with a monster 15-meter birdie putt at the 17th when she was three shots ahead of the New Zealand ace. It allowed Nomura the luxury of her only bogey at the par-four 18th when she found the front-right sand trap and failed to get up and down. It was the 67th-ranked Nomura's first LPGA win after five seasons on the tour in America without drawing much attention. Nomura clinched victory with a run of three consecutive birdies at the 15th, 16th and 17th holes that the top-ranked Ko could not match. Ko finished alone in second place at 13-under par after finishing with a five-under par 67. Australia's five-time Australian Open winner Karrie Webb was third at nine-under, having joined the lead early in the round with three birdies before faltering. American Danielle Kang and South Korean Jenny Shin had shared the overnight lead with Nomura but fell away on the final day. Kang's closing 73 saw her finish in a tie for fourth on eight-under 280, while Shin was joint ninth a stroke further back after a 74. Fraser pips Lee in Malaysia Australian Marcus Fraser made a curling 18-foot putt for par on the final hole Sunday for a 3-under 68 to win the inaugural Maybank Championship Malaysia by two strokes over Lee Soo-min of South Korea. Fraser trailed third-round leader Lee throughout the final round at Royal Selangor Golf Club before taking advantage of Lee's late collapse to claim a third European Tour victory in the event co-sanctioned with the Asian Tour. The 37-year-old Australian, who ended a six-year title drought, finished with a 15-under total of 269 that included a bogey-free final two rounds. Lee closed with a 73 and was tied for second with Miguel Tabuena of the Philippines, who shot a final-round 68. Former British Open champion Louis Oosthuizen shot a closing 66 and was seven strokes behind. Watson moves one ahead Former champion Bubba Watson birdied three of the last eight holes, and conjured a brilliant up-and-down on 18, to edge one stroke clear of a congested leaderboard in the Northern Trust Open third round at Pacific Palisades, US, Saturday. The American left-hander used his booming length off the tee and his creativity around the greens to good advantage as he fired a four-under-par 67 at a sun-splashed Riviera Country Club, a venue he has always relished playing. Champion here in 2014, Watson mixed five birdies with a lone bogey on a firm and fast-running layout to post a 12-under total of 201, one better than fellow Americans Dustin Johnson (68), Chez Reavie (69) and Jason Kokrak (70), the overnight leader. Rory McIlroy (67) was a further stroke back at 10-under, level with Australians Adam Scott (67) and Marc Leishman (68), South Korean KJ Choi (67) and American Kevin Chappell (66), to set up the prospect of a thrilling shootout in Sunday's final round. "We all feel good about our chances, even the guy that's five (shots) back," twice Masters champion Watson told reporters after covering his back nine in three-under 33. Watson seized the outright lead with birdies at the 11th, 13th and 17th and maintained it with a clutch up-and-down at the par-four last. Long-hitting Johnson, a runner-up at Riviera for the last two years, was one of five players who held at least a share of the lead during the third round before winding up with a five-birdie 68.
